Joel 3:1-16 ▼

1 “For behold, in those [climactic] days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather together all the [Gentile] nations [that were hostile to My people] And bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the LORD has judged). And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them there For [their treatment of] My people, My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations, And [because] they have encroached on My land and divided it up.

3 “They have also cast lots for My people, And have traded a boy for a prostitute And have sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

4 Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre and Sidon and all the [five small] regions of Philistia? Will you pay Me back for something [I have supposedly done to you]? Even if you do pay Me back, I will swiftly and speedily return your deed [of retaliation] on your own head.

5 Because you have taken My silver and My gold and have carried My precious treasures to your temples and palaces,

6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the Greeks, so that you may send them far away from their territory,

7 behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them [and return them to their land], and I shall return your action [of retaliation] on your own head.

8 Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the LORD has spoken.

9 Proclaim this among the [pagan] nations: Prepare a war! Stir up the mighty men! Let all the men of war come near, let them come up!

10 Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, “I am strong!”

11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there; Bring down, O LORD, Your mighty ones (Your warriors).

12 Let the nations be stirred [to action] And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge and punish All the surrounding nations.

13 Put in the sickle [of judgment], for the harvest is ripe; Come, tread [the grapes], for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for the wickedness [of the people] is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision (judgment)! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision [when judgment is executed].

15 The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.

16 The LORD thunders and roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem [in judgment of His enemies], And the heavens and the earth tremble and shudder; But the LORD is a refuge for His people And a stronghold [of protection] to the children of Israel.